Empowering road safety practitioners in fatigue management: informed development of an online learning resource

Driver fatigue is a safety concern as sleepy drivers are more likely to crash than alert drivers. Evidence-based fatigue management programs implement mitigation strategies aimed at reducing the risk of driver fatigue. However, there is a high barrier to entry for those seeking to establish such a program in terms of understanding the evidence and recognition of the problem. It is proposed that an online self-directed learning resource could overcome this barrier. This work aims to inform the development of such a learning resource for road safety practitioners. Firstly, a market research exercise identified existing learning provisions available in the UK to ascertain gaps in the market. Secondly, three focus groups were undertaken with road safety practitioners (n = 14). The objectives of the groups were to understand the challenges faced in fatigue management and identify useful content and features for a learning tool. The market research identified six independent companies providing fatigue management training in the UK, mostly delivered by a course facilitator either online or face-to-face. learning provisions were predominantly aimed at frontline workers (drivers, pilots) and their immediate managers; suggesting that there is a gap in the market for an entry level online learning resource. Thematic analysis of focus group data identified the content inclusion and delivery mechanism preferences which are listed in the conclusion of this paper. Overall findings suggest that an acceptable learning resource should be context specific, equipping learners with the necessary knowledge and practical approaches (including resources) to support themselves and their staff in managing fatigue. Additionally, it was recognized that fatigue is a difficult topic to discuss, and learners would benefit from developing soft skills to facilitate conversations about fatigue with drivers as well as tools to evidence the benefits of an alert workforce to foster broader buy-in from senior leaders.